Sunday, July 14, 2013

How to Get the Most Nutrition From Popcorn, Other Odd Foods

My opinion: Though there may be some pieces and parts of the popcorn that are extremely healthy, I find it hard to believe that most people will eat the hulls of popcorn for dinner, not to mention while at the movies. To make these nutrients more marketable, there may be a few solutions. First of all, people could choose to eat dried corn, but I don't think this would be very appetizing. Maybe there are some recipes out there, however, that are quite tasteful and call for dried corn. Perhaps this is the true cornerstone of cooking - it can take good to ok foods and make them into something delectable while conserving nutrition. There may be some cases in which the nutritional value is so small that the food or drink may not be worth using at all, like the antioxidants in red wine. For this there may be vitamin pills, but I think that cooking is overall a more nutritious, appealing alternative. Feel free to comment with your own experiences and tips.

Don't Forget to Eat Your Fruits, Veggies ... and Popcorn?

The whole-grain treat a good choice for guilt-free snacking, researchers say.

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay News

SUNDAY, March
25, 2012 (HealthDay News) — Want a healthy snack?
Consider passing the popcorn. A new study says the whole-grain treat contains
more of the "good for you" antioxidants
called polyphenols than some fruits or vegetables.
The amount of polyphenols
in popcorn was up to 300 milligrams (mg) per serving compared with 114 mg per
serving of sweet corn and 160 mg per serving for all fruits, according to study
findings to be presented Sunday at a meeting of the American Chemical Society
in San Diego. This is because polyphenols are diluted in the 90 percent water
that makes up many fruits and vegetables, whereas they are more concentrated in
popcorn, which averages only about 4 percent water, the study authors said.

In the average U.S. diet, fruits provide 255 mg of
polyphenols per day and vegetables provide 218 mg per day. One serving of
popcorn would provide 13 percent of the average daily intake of polyphenols per
person in the United States, the Pennsylvania researchers said in a society
news release.The levels of polyphenols
in popcorn reported in this study were higher than previously believed. The
levels were similar to those found in nuts and 15 times the levels found in
whole-grain tortilla chips, the researchers said. The investigators also found
that the hulls of popcorn — the bits that tend to get caught in the
teeth — have the highest concentrations of polyphenols and fiber.

Those hulls deserve
more respect," study author Joe Vinson, of the University of Scranton,
said in the news release.
However, Vinson warned,
adding butter, salt and other calorie-laden flavorings can turn this snack into
a bucketful
of trouble.